Hami melons raise Miao village incomes

The people of the Miao ethnic group in Danzhai county, Guizhou province, have turned to growing hami melons to improve their incomes.

Gangai village in Danzhai county is home to a considerable population of Miao people. Two years ago, Gangai local Pan Xinlin visited South China's Hainan province to learn about growing hami melons, a skill he has returned to his hometown

With the support of local government, Pan extablished a hami melon planting base, together with a dozen of other households. They started the business with just 1,000 square meters of land.

The success of the business attracted more households so they expanded the base to 300 mu (20 hectares) earlier this year.

In 2017, the planting base is expected to make a profit of more than 3 million yuan ($441,370) with each household involved earning about 60,000 yuan.